MADISON – Wisconsin’s playoff hopes were dashed on Saturday night with their 27-21 to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship. The loss knocked the Badgers to No. 6 in the final College Football Playoff rankings of the season.

The Big Ten was left out of the College Football Playoff as Ohio State finished as the first team out, at No. 5.

The playoff matchups are set as No. 1 Clemson will take on No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and No. 2 Oklahoma will take on No. 3 Georgia in the Rose Bowl. Both games will take place on New Year’s Day.

As for Wisconsin, they’re expected to head to the Orange Bowl on December 30 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, per Brett McMurphy.

The University of Miami is the expected opponent for the Badgers. The Hurricanes finished the season 10-2 after their 38-3 loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship on Saturday night.

PASADENA, Calif. — After scoring 49 points in the second and third quarters to take a commanding lead over USC in the Rose Bowl, Penn State was outscored 17-0 in the final 15 minutes as a microcosm of the postseason for teams in the Big Ten East division.

It started the day after Christmas, with Maryland falling to Boston College 36-30 in the Quick Lane Bowl. Indiana followed that up on Dec. 28 with a 26-24 loss to Utah in the Foster Farms Bowl.

The Michigan Wolverines put forth a more valiant effort, falling to Florida State 33-32 in the Orange Bowl. Michigan’s three losses on the season have come by a combined five points. They also battled without star safety Jabrill Peppers due to a hamstring injury and lost tight end Jake Butt to a knee injury.

That didn’t stop Ohio State from getting blown out by Clemson 31-0 in the national semifinals of the Playstation Fiesta Bowl. A lot was made about the Buckeyes being so highly-touted by college football analysts despite not playing for a conference championship. For head coach Urban Meyer, it was the first time any of his teams have been shut out in 194 games. Ohio State was last blanked by Michigan in 1993. The aftermath of their bowl game loss has resulted in news OSU’s quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tim Beck is leaving for Texas.

While Ohio State enters the offseason looking to fill a coaching vacancy, analyst Kirk Herbstreit still believes Penn State will remain in the top five of college football during next season’s first set of rankings.

The Big Ten West didn’t exactly dominate its opponents in bowl games either, but they five teams with games went a combined 3-2:

Minnesota 17, Washington State 12 (National Funding Holday Bowl)

Northwestern 31, Pittsburgh 24 (New Era Pinstripe Bowl)

Tennessee 38, Nebraska 24 (Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl)